


Study Buddies

by SnuggBugg



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Angst, Dib and Torque romance, DibxTorque, Dork Dib (Invader Zim), Fluff, Frenemies, M/M, Older Dib (Invader Zim), Romance, TorquexDib, We need more Dorque fics, ZADE, ZADF, cute fluff, datr, dorque - Freeform, heehoo, invader Zim Dorque, invader zim - Freeform, major fluff, relationship, there are so little and I will change that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:28:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26752090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnuggBugg/pseuds/SnuggBugg
Summary: Dib and Torque are in their senior year and haven’t spoken to each-other in almost 5 years since middle school. Dib gets set up as Torque’s Tutor for Pre Calc but he is less that excited to do so. Surely Torque is just another popular Hiskool bully right?? Well, Maybe the quarterback isn’t as bad as he might seem. Afterall, Torque Smackey was always the nicest to him when they were younger.
Relationships: Dib/Torque, Dorque, Torque/Dib
Comments: 3
Kudos: 16





	Study Buddies

**Author's Note:**

> HENLO!! I have made a Dorque fic!! I’m kinda working in between two fics but I don’t care because I love writing about these babs even though writing is h a r d. But I hope you enjoy this!!! Thanks to the Dib Harem discord server for encouraging me to write this and to Mel and Panda for the ideas!! And thanks to Tuzz for editing my writing I love all of you!! I hope you all enjoy!

“You wanted to see me, Mr. Sweets??” The raven-haired boy asked as he walked into the Pre-calc classroom, adjusting his backpack as students left the room.

Dib Membrane was in his senior year of high school and had Mr. Sweets as his Pre-calculus teacher last year since his dad had him take a math course during the summer just before his freshman year started. Now he was the top student in his Calculus class, easily acing every test and assignment thrown his way. Though since Mr. Sweets wasn’t exactly his teacher anymore, he began to wonder what it was exactly that he wanted. 

“Oh! Hello Dib! It’s very nice to see you again!” Mr. Sweets said sweetly with a grin, folding his hands on his desk. 

“I suppose you’re wondering why I asked for you to come here in the first place??” 

Dib nodded, being the only person in the classroom now along with Mr. Sweets.   
“Well, I have a really big favor to ask of you! Now you don’t have to agree, but it would be of great help if you did this!” The teacher said hopefully as he looked up at his past student.

“A favor huh? I guess it kinda depends on what it is.” The boy said honestly as he crossed his arms, looking rather cautious.

Just before Mr. Sweets could get any more words out, the door had opened again. Torque Smackey, The school’s star football player and quarterback walked into the room. He and Dib had both seemed to be frozen in place as their eyes made contact, definitely not expecting to see the other here. Torque only stared for a second before directing his attention towards his pre-calc teacher. After another few seconds, Smackey finally spoke up.

“Uhm…. Hey.” He said a little nonchalantly

Dib tensed up as Torque made his way over, standing a few inches away from him to speak to the teacher. Torque only allowed himself to glance at Dib every few seconds, his cheeks burning up in embarrassment.

“So uhm… I’m guessing this is for the uh…”

Torque couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence, only looking to the side as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“Your tutoring session??” Mr. Sweets decided to finish for him 

…

What.

Dib began to stammer just slightly as he looked to the teacher, a look of reluctance on his face as he tried to look for the right words to say. Did he hear that right? Is this what he was here for?

“T-tutoring Session?”

Dib repeated, trying to stop his voice from cracking. Him? Tutor Torque Smackey? Torque ‘Way bigger and stronger than you and could easily snap you in half’ Smackey?! He almost paled just a bit at the thought but kept his composure, instead clearing his throat as he continued to try and think. I mean, he could always say no. He didn’t exactly have to do this after all. 

“Yep!” Mr sweets finally spoke up. “You’d be doing us both a huge favor if you would help Torque get a better grasp of things. He’s been having trouble with his work and grade and well, I figured you’d be able to help him out! After all, you were my top student when you were in my class, and Mrs. Yani keeps telling me about how brilliant you are in Calculus!”

Dib had paused, his cheeks turning slightly red at the praise. He saw the smile on Mr. Sweets face. He was using compliments and praise to lure him into doing this, Dib could see right through that act.

And stars, it was working.

With a bashful grin, Dib looked down at his feet thoughtfully before glancing at Torque through the corner of his eye… It had been a very long while since he and Torque had even shared a hello. The only times he’s ever really spoken to him was during 7th grade in Middle School

Torque Smackey wasn’t a mean person, he could even go as far as to say that he probably treated him the nicest out of his peers. The problem was that 5 years could change somebody, and he was rather paranoid that the pressure of being popular had somehow gotten to Torque and changed him for the worst. Still, turning this down now would almost seem rude to Dib now that Sweets had pulled out the compliments. With a deep breath, Dib finally let out a reluctant sigh, slouching just a bit as he ran his hair through his cowlick. 

“I… guess it wouldn’t be too much trouble to take up tutoring for a while.”

Torque had perked up slightly once Dib had agreed to tutor him, almost a bit surprised himself considering from the way Dib was looking he was almost entirely sure he’d say no. Still, he could tell Dib was rather reluctant and he almost felt bad for making him have to put up with this. He would’ve said something if Mr. Sweets hadn’t given them both such a happy look.

“Perfect! Now you both should probably discuss how you want this to work. I suggest meeting up at least two or three times a week, but hey, it’s not my choice. Just an idea. You both can discuss it on your way out, I got quizzes to grade.” 

Dib and Torque looked at each other a little awkwardly before Dib finally walked past Torque to leave, Torque following behind him and closing the classroom door once he was out. Dib let out a sigh and adjusted his backpack a bit as he tried keeping his cool.

“A-alright uhm… If you want we could get started today?? I think the quicker we get this done with the better and uh… It’s always good to get started ahead of time just in case any more quizzes or troublesome assignments come up for you.”

Dib spoke a little too quickly, probably because he was speaking to Torque now instead of just standing by him. 

“Oh uh… yeah that’s cool. Maybe we can head to my place or something??” Torque asked casually.

Dib felt his fears and anxiety creep up his spine again, almost shivering at the thought of being alone with Torque. His paranoia was getting the best of him, and he was far too afraid to end up being beaten by the strongest kid in school, Possibly even the strongest kid in town. He tried to think of anything to get out of this situation, anything at all. 

“Uh… how about we go on ahead and study at the library instead… uh… They have some good… study books there too that I used to use.”

That wasn’t an entire lie. Dib had seen some study books for pre calc at their local library, but he never really used them. It wasn’t like he needed to anyway. He’d rather chase after Zim and stop his plans for world domination than to sit still someplace and study. Plus, to him, the work was easy enough. He noticed that Troque seemed to tense up a bit himself, but of course, Dib didn't think too much of it. Maybe he just didn’t wanna be seen with the town freak or something.

“Oh I’m sure it won’t ruin your rep or whatever, let’s just go.”

Dib said a little more hurriedly and with some offense. Even if Torque didn’t say it, he already knew he would be embarrassed to be seen with him. Least, that’s what Dib was thinking. Before Torque could respond to that, Dib already began to walk ahead, expecting Torque to follow. Eventually, Torque followed behind him at some distance. The rest of the walk was taken in awkward silence, Torque trying to think of anything to say but nothing seemed to be coming out of his mouth.

The moment they arrived at the library, Dib had already walked himself over to where most of the study books were placed, quickly scanning the whole aisle before picking out two books in less than a minute. Torque himself was still processing multiple author and book names by the time Dib had told him to follow him to a table, the two seated themselves across from each other. Already Dib opened up a book and passed the other to Torque.

“Go ahead and follow along with me. If you have any trouble with anything, just say so and we can pause and figure it out together alright??? I’ll read the first page and you try to solve the problem as I explain how to do this, ok??”

Torque only stared down at the book, not answering before giving a simple quiet nod. He seemed to be looking at the first and second page already, but Dib didn’t seem to catch the look of shame that plastered onto Torque’s face when others would walk by anywhere near. Dib pulled out some paper and handed it over to Torque a little sloppily, almost throwing it at him at this point but of course, he kept himself from doing so. Passing him anything felt like you were trying to feed some kind of Feral Dog by hand. He began to explain the problem rather quickly, too quickly if anything. Dib didn’t bother to try and look up at Torque, if he needed him to slow down he could just ask. By the time he was done with reading he finally glanced up, Torque was just staring at the page.

“You good to answer the first question??”

Torque only stared at the two pages and then his eyes wandered around the room. He watched as people walked through the aisles of books, the majority of people here just happened to be in their grade or school for the most part. There was one thing that Dib could tell though, and that was the fact that Torque was insecure. He didn’t doubt that he was embarrassed to be seen with him. Dib couldn’t help but grimace to himself at the thought. He swore people worried too much about their reputation sometimes. 

“Torque?” Dib asked again, his tone only slightly harsher.

Torque finally seemed alerted, his eyes back on Dib. He scratched his bearded chin as he cleared his throat, biting his lip slightly before finally giving a silent shrug as he looked down. He messed with a pencil in his hand. Dib’s only response was a huff before looking back down at his book. 

“Do we need to go over it again?” He asked a little too loudly.

Torque flinched at that and sat up before quickly shaking his head. 

“No. I get it.”

The two looked down at their books in silence before Dib finally said they were gonna move on to the next page then. They ended up staying in the library for another hour, Dib mostly skimming through the pages quickly and Torque not answering any problems. It almost seemed like he was ignoring Dib entirely. Dib felt relief wash over him as the hour finally came to an end, closing up the book.

“Alright. We got a good ways into this. We can meet again on…” 

Dib began to falter as he thought to himself. His original plan was to meet up with Torque at least twice a week, but why should he be wasting his own time if Torque didn’t even seem like he cared. He probably knew that all he needed were his sports to get to college, and was probably really proud of it too wasn’t he??

“We can meet again next week.” he finished.

With that he took his backpack and got up to put his book away. He figured that Torque would be the one to rush out of there but he just… stayed where he was seated, book still wide open on the table and he didn't seem to be moving anytime soon. Dib found himself staring at the jock for a second before finally deciding to exit the building. Stars, what did he get himself into??

. . .

“I don’t know if I can do this Mr. Sweets. I know it has just been two weeks, but it has just been insufferable. Look, I’m sure you can find someone else to tutor the guy. Maybe he just- doesn’t like that it’s me or something. I’m gonna tell you now though, I don’t think there's a point in doing this.”

Two weeks. Dib had been trying to tutor Smackey for two weeks too long. Dib did come early to school today just to tell Mr. Sweets about this problem. He just couldn’t stand the thought of having to practically talk to himself about things he already knew again. It was all just falling upon deaf ears, wasn’t it? Mr. Sweets rose a brow and leaned against his desk, an unconvinced look on his face. 

“Oh yeah?? And why exactly do you think that, Mr. Membrane?” he hummed curiously.

Dib found himself staring at Mr. Sweets with some shock. Did he not believe him??

“Excuse me for being cliche here sir, but he doesn’t even need these good grades to make it far! Plus, he doesn’t even pay attention to me! He just stares at the book and has me explain everything and doesn’t even try to answer any of the questions given! It’s like he ignores me the whole time.” Dib groaned

Mr. Sweets hummed in thought as he tapped his pencil against his desk before looking towards Dib. 

“Where are you both on in the subject?”

“What does that matter?? We’re getting through things fast. We’re on chapter four.”

“Chapter four? Already?? You two have only had 3 sessions haven’t you?”

“Yeah well, he keeps saying he gets it! He isn’t exactly telling me what he’s having trouble with. He just sits there and does nothing! As I said, I think this is just a waste of time. Just let the guy be, he’ll manage.” Dib groaned.

Mr. Sweets only shook his head with a deep sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose a bit before chuckling.

“Dib.”

“Yes??”

“... You do realize that Torque Smackey was the one who asked for a tutor right?”

. . .

Oh.

Now he was the asshole.


End file.
